Jason Bateman has revealed the extreme lengths he had to go to not to corpse on the Identity Thief set.

The 44-year-old admitted that working opposite funnywoman Melissa McCarthy on the comedy was a laugh - but also rather painful.

"During some scenes, I would pinch the inside of my thighs so that I wouldn't laugh in the middle of the take. It was somewhat effective, but by the end of the film, my legs were covered in pinch marks," he said.

Jason said it was a relief they got on so well: "She's a comedic ninja and it was so much fun to work with her. It would have been tough and not such a fun shoot if we hated each other."

The appreciation is definitely mutual, with Melissa saying: "Just having Jason Bateman call and say, 'I'd like to talk to you about something' made me dork out a bit."

The comedic pair got the chance to do some improvisation during filming, working off a script by Craig Mazin (The Hangover Part II).

Melissa explained: "It was a nice, loose set so if we wanted to throw something in the mix, we could. It was fun to change up part of a joke, just to try and catch the other one off guard. I ruined so many takes because Jason just kills me, and it was so fun to say the most insane things."